In-flight entertainment (IFE) systems have been deployed onboard aircraft to provide entertainment for passengers in a passenger cabin. The in-flight entertainment systems typically provide passengers with video and audio programming. Some in-flight entertainment systems include an electronic communications network having a head-end server and seat-end electronics boxes that are coupled with video display units located at passenger seats or a head-end server connected through floor or sidewall junction boxes that daisy chain to multiple video display units located at the passenger seats. The video display units display content that is distributed from the head-end server over the communications network. Remote controllers facilitate a user's control of the content displayed on the video display units. The controllers typically include remote controls for personal use by passengers at their seats in the aircraft.
User interfaces to existing IFE systems may include a touch screen on a dedicated seat display monitor or video display unit disposed at the passenger seat, such as in the seat back in front of the passenger seat. A user interface can be provided by a remote controller that is wireless or tethered at a passenger seat while being within reach of the passenger.
A tethered controller can be handheld while tethered via a cable to a location in an aircraft in the vicinity of the passenger seat, such as to a seat back in front of the passenger seat or to an arm rest adjacent to the passenger seat. Tethering of the controller allows it to be comfortably held by a passenger for viewing and manipulation, while also preventing the controller from being removed by the passenger from its installation location (e.g., removed from the aircraft). However, the tethering cable extending between the controller and the tethered location (e.g., to a forward seat back) can create a barrier to the pathway of an adjacent passenger and/or to a serving tray or other object being passed to the passenger or the adjacent passenger. Moreover, the tethering cable may not extend a sufficient distance and/or may exert an excessive recoil force to allow the controller to be comfortably held when a passenger is reclined in a seat or has otherwise moved further from the tethered location.
For these and other reasons, it can be desirable to eliminate tethering between the handheld controller and the associated IFE systems. The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.